	Group Living Services

Introduction

Administration and Management

Service Delivery Administration Standards

Service Standards

PA-GLS 15: Transition from the Service System

Residents transitioning to the community participate in planning for transition and are prepared with positive experiences and skills to make a successful move.

Interpretation: The decision to develop a plan for returning to the community is based on the service recipient’s preparedness and wishes, unless the transition is mandated.

Interpretation: When the agency serves young children, the parent or legal guardian is informed of and involved in the transition process.

NA The service is a long-term permanent housing setting.

PA-GLS 15.01

The agency provides residents transitioning to the community with at least six months’ advance notice of the cessation of any health, financial, or other benefits that may occur at transition or case closing.

PA-GLS 15.02

The agency prepares residents for a successful transition by providing:

for transfer or termination of custody for youth, as applicable;
information about rights and services to which the person may have access as a result of a disability;
information on availability of affordable community based healthcare and counseling;
information about court and welfare systems;
information about child care services, as applicable; and
support through community volunteers or persons who have made a successful transition, as appropriate.

PA-GLS 15.03

During the transition process, and prior to case closing, the agency explores a range of living situations with residents and engages them in an evaluation of the risks and benefits of various housing options.

Interpretation: Options may include the full range of housing options from supported living to fully independent living environments.

NA The individual is not transitioning to an independent living situation.

PA-GLS 15.04

The agency ensures that an adequate living arrangement is in place for every person transitioning to independence and, when possible, provides supervised household management practice.

Research Note: Research indicates that many youth who have been separated from their homes experience high levels of housing instability and are at increased risk for homelessness. Accordingly, some experts emphasize the importance of providing concrete assistance to help youth secure appropriate housing, and recommend that independent living programs subsidize rental costs or develop transitional housing programs.

NA The individual is not transitioning to an independent living situation.

PA-GLS 15.05

For every person transitioning to independence, the agency ensures that basic resources are in place, including:

a source of income;
affordable health care;
access to at least one committed, caring adult; and
access to positive peer support.

Research Note: A landmark longitudinal study following development of children from infancy to adulthood found that youth who made a successful transition to adulthood tended to seek out and rely for support on a caring individual who could be a family or community member, or substitute caregiver.

NA The individual is not transitioning to an independent living situation.

PA-GLS 15.06

The agency assists individuals in obtaining or compiling documents necessary to function independently, including, as appropriate:

an identification card;
a social security or social insurance number;
a resume, when work experience can be described;
a driver’s license, when the ability to drive is a goal;
medical records and documentation, including a Medicaid card or other health eligibility documentation;
an original copy of a birth certificate;
religious documents and information;
documentation of immigration, citizenship, or naturalization, if applicable;
death certificates when parents are deceased;
life book or a compilation of personal history and photographs, as appropriate;
a list of known relatives, with relationships, addresses, telephone numbers, and permissions for contacting involved parties;
previous placement information and health facilities used, if age-appropriate; and
educational records, such as high school diploma or general equivalency diploma, and a list of schools attended, when age-appropriate.

PA-GLS 15.07

As a continuing resource for information, crisis management, referral, and support, the agency provides each person with:

a transition plan summary, including the individual’s options;
a list of emergency and contact persons; and
the agency’s contact information.

QUICK JUMP TO


	PURPOSE: Individuals who receive Group Living Services regain, maintain, and improve life skills and functioning in a safe, stable, community-based living arrangement.

RELATED FILES


	SERVICE One or more organization-operated programs or activities that have a common general objective and deploy the organization's material and human resources in a planned and systematic manner. An organization that publicly promotes or identifies itself in writing as offering a service, is licensed to deliver a service, assigns personnel and/or space to a service, or allocates financial resources to a service is considered to offer that service.


	COMMUNITY A specific group of people living in the same locality and who may share a common culture, values, and norms. Communities can also be defined by race, religion, ethnicity, age, occupation, political status, tribal affiliation, interest in particular problems or outcomes, or other common bonds. The term "community" encompasses worksites, schools, tribes, residential neighborhoods, business districts, recreational areas, and health and human service sites.


	PLANNING The process of specifying objectives, evaluating the means for their achievement, and exercising deliberate decision making about appropriate courses of action.


	SERVICE RECIPIENT The individuals, groups, organizations, or communities that use, receive, or benefit from programs and services. Service recipients can include consumers, patients, family members, legal guardians, advocates, public/private organizations, employers, and purchasers. All are regarded as significant stakeholders served in a variety of agencies and practice settings.


	LEGAL GUARDIAN A person who has legal responsibility for the care and management of a person incapable of administering his/her own affairs. In the case of a minor child, the guardian is charged with the legal responsibility for the care and management of the child and of the minor child's estate.


	CASE CLOSING A voluntary or involuntary process which occurs when an organization no longer assumes responsibility for providing services to a particular individual, group, or family. Also known as "termination" or "discharge."


	CUSTODY The care, control, and maintenance of a child. The court legally can award custody to an agency in abuse and neglect cases or to parents in divorce, separation, or adoption proceedings. Child welfare departments retain legal custody and control of major decisions for a child in foster care; foster parents do not have legal custody of the children for which they provide care.


	VOLUNTEER An individual who performs services for an organization for civic, charitable, or humanitarian reasons, without promise, expectation, or receipt of compensation for services rendered. Such service must be offered freely and without pressure or coercion, direct or implied, from an employer. If the individual is otherwise employed by the same employer for which s/he volunteers, the individual cannot volunteer to perform the same type of services that s/he is paid to perform as an employee.


	EVALUATION The review and assessment of organizational operations, programs and services.


	PRACTICE Established actions or ways of proceeding in the regular performance of organizational duties. Policies and procedures often guide practice.


	TERMINATION See CASE CLOSING


	MANAGEMENT See ADMINISTRATION


	RESEARCH For purposes of COA accreditation, all forms of internal or external research involving persons served except internal program evaluation and outcomes research, or educational projects performed by students and interns that are part of their professional training.


	PROGRAM A system of services offered by an organization. For example, an organization providing a mental health service may offer several mental health programs to different populations, e.g., a mental health program for adolescent teens. The word "program" can be used interchangeably with the word "service" or to describe specific programs.


	FAMILY Two or more people who consider themselves family and who assume obligations, functions, and responsibilities generally essential to healthy family life. Child care and child socialization, income support, long-term care, and other caregiving are among the functions of family life. The definition of "family" will rest with an individual's indication of who plays a family member role, including current or former foster family, adoptive family, extended family members, fictive kin, or significant others. Organizations that believe family is the central constellation in a child's life, and that family attachments are of primary importance for human development, will strive to work with professional staff to develop a common understanding of "family."


	CAREGIVER The provider of physical, emotional, and social needs to another person, often dependent and unable to provide for his or her own needs. Caregiver is the generic term used for the direct service providers in Community Care and Support Services (CCS).


	ELIGIBILITY The degree to which an individual, family, group, or community meets the specific criteria and qualifications required to receive goods, benefits, or services.


	PARENTS Parents can include: birth, foster, kinship, and adoptive parents. Please see service standards for more specific information about use of this term.


	LIFE BOOK A pictorial and written representation of the child's life designed to help the child make sense of his unique background and history. The life book includes, but is not limited to, birthparents, other relatives, birthplace and date and can be put together by the social workers and foster/adoptive parents working with the child.